Chapter 2: Chance Meeting

Continuing from Chapter 1...

Several days later, I found myself standing in front of Wellons Hall, a 3-story men's dorm in my new kelly green jacket.  I studied the window on the second floor.  Was he sleeping again?  Or had he actually attended a class?  Either way, I needed someone.  Anyone.  The only friends I had at school were all busy at the moment, and I was too upset to sit with someone new... particularly someone new who would question me.  I wanted someone "safe" to just sit with and have fun.  It was with these thoughts that I snatched up the pinecone and hurled it at the window.  I hit it dead on.  Of course, I'd had plenty of practice that semester.  Nothing happened.  Now I was mad.  I'd spent all day trying to catch a break in the system.  When that was a no-go, I'd finished my work and gone in search of the one person who might spend some time calming me down.  I ripped another pinecone from it's resting place in the grass, took my stance.  I was mid-wind-up when the door to the building opened.  This was rare...most of the guys were busy with homework right now.

A handsome man with all the features of a young boy stepped out.  I marveled at his good looks for a split second -- all the time needed to realize this was Goofy.  Great.  Now he is assured of my freakdom and I've got to come up with a good cover-story quick.  Why is a pinecone suspended mid-air in my infuriated grip again? 

"What're you doing...?" he quizzed. 
Wonderful.  So he had noticed.  "Uhhhhhm..."
"What?"
I dropped the pinecone, deciding to ignore the initial question and answer in a different way.
"I was just trying to see if Boyfriend was in his room.  Have you seen him?"
"No.  I haven't seen him all day.  What room is he in and I'll go see if he's there." 

I was mildly impressed.  At first I argued that it was no trouble I would just go it alone.  But he insisted, so I gave him the room number and off he went.  I waited outside.  My own personal Hermes returning with the news that Boyfriend was sleeping and not to be disturbed.  Lovely.  I didn't feel horrible enough just yet.  Maybe I should just go find a TV and play dead in front of it until three or four the next morning... but I wanted to go take care of the one thing that remained intact in my life.

There was one place in this wonderful, yet - for the moment - dismal, college life where I had found family.  People cared about me, at least in theory.  We were all friends and we all spent a great deal of time getting to know each other.  In 2005, I had joined a message board called Christianrock.net; this was the only Christian message board which had not been full of 50-somethings and had not required some smartass application.  The applications at such websites supposedly guaranteed that I would live up to my Christian lifestyle standards and therefore be a safe acquaintance with which current members could think well of.  Those places were just too opinionated for me.

I felt...sad.  It was difficult to make friends amid my schedule and all of the additional work I had to do just to keep a by-the-skin-of-my-teeth passing grade that semester.  It didn't help that I was having to avoid making new friends because I felt I complained and whined about the problem too much; I allowed it to over-affect me, and that wasn't a good way to start off a new relationship of any kind.

I trudged in the direction of the Student Activity Center, fondly referred to as the SAC.

"Where are you going?"
He was walking with me?  For real?  How long was this going to last?  5 seconds.  Two minutes.  Let the countdown begin.
"The computer lab in the SAC." 
"I'll go with you."
"Weren't you heading to supper?  You'll be too late."
"I can eat later."

And with that, we walked.  Several minutes later, we were in the SAC's lab.  I sat at a computer typing in the web address to the blessed assurance that was "home" to me.  Meanwhile, in a chair next to me, he watched.  He commented on the things I did, and actually tried to be a part of them in an unobtrusive way.  He cared.  About me.  But he wasn't flirting, at least not as openly as so many guys did.

As he left in search of his supper two hours later, he commented on my jacket.  Now I liked it even more...  For the first time in months, I felt something different; I felt calm.

Chapter 1: The Cafeteria

I remember when I was attending Emmanuel College.  I had gotten in on a prayer, and was quickly sliding out on a magical carpet with "$0" symbols printed on it (in cheap ink, of course).  Things were difficult, and it wasn't a good day.  I decided to try making the best of it by calling my boyfriend and bugging him into coming to dinner with me at the cafeteria.  I was tired of eating alone at the tables while watching the "in" crowd laughing and talking over their own dinners.  It had been a rough year, and my schedule and homework had rendered me unsocial beyond my suitemates and my boyfriend.  Ah yes... the boyfriend.  He was rude and cynical, and growing more annoyed with me by the day.  I was with him because I felt more secure in a relationship than without one at the time.  I’m happy to say that I’ve since grown out of that to a certain degree.

I sat down with my dinner.  I was worn out and rather angry and upset.  Things were getting really bad, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to finish out the semester.  This was going to be a huge blow to my ego, not to mention that the boyfriend didn't really even want to be there.  I had worked really hard to get him to leave his game console and war games to eat with me.  I was drained.  My limit had been reached a few weeks earlier, but here I was still plugging along. 

The people milling around us were the last of the hungry.  The stragglers of the campus who waited until the last minute to eat.  Some goofy looking guy I'd seen around a couple times before was making his way toward our table.  I shot him a look meant to chase him off.  He ignored it.  This was new.  Most guys got the "GO AWAY!!!!" memo and would have altered their course the split second they saw that glare.  I decided to try to talk to boyfriend.  He was trying to rush through his plate of food.  Apparently he really needed to practice his "mad skills" a bit more before he'd reach "total beast" status in his gaming.  No matter that he was going to stay up the entire night and avoid all classes the next day just so that he could accomplish this goal.

Goofy was still plowing through the seating area.  I wondered how much self-control it was going to take me not to punch this intruder in the face.  There was still some hope that he would avert his pathway in the opposite direction, but from the look on his face, I had a feeling that hope was nil.

“Is anybody sitting here?” he asked us, answering his own question by seating himself without waiting for a reply or invitation.  How rude.  Get the memo and go away already.  Suddenly I found myself at the head of a table (which is how it should be should it not?) sandwiched between Boyfriend and Goofy.  I soon discovered that Goofy was just what I’d feared.  Oh, he wasn’t just any treasure.  He was a special kind of silly.  One of those guys who has no long-term memory whatsoever unless it has something to do with his favorite comedian.  So he began regaling the snaggle-tooth and the princess with every joke he could possibly remember.  Each joke ended in a pointed look toward me or maybe even a confirmation of whether or not I had “gotten it”.  Would he ever shut up?  I just hoped he realized we weren’t best buds just because he gave me a few fake laughs (I wasn’t in the mood).  I didn’t even know him!  This was my boyfriend’s friend.

As the newcomer told yet another joke, Boyfriend decided to go rogue on him and make a cynical remark.  I remember thinking, “OHHHHhhhhhhhh…burn… but he didn’t deserve all of that…poor Goofy.”  And that was the first somewhat kind thought I had toward the guy I didn’t know… some kid I’d cruelly labeled ‘Goofy’.  Someone I didn’t know, and therefore, had no right to label.  I felt bad…sort of.  Okay, so I didn’t feel as awful as I should have at first.  But that was because I felt he’d asked for it to begin with.  Little did I know that my thoughts and feelings would change before twelve more months spun our little no-consequence world of petty issues into something so much happier.

Introductions

This blog is different.  A dedication of sorts to whom it may - or may not - concern.  This is for the lovers, the romantics, the hopefuls, and the people just dying to know all our dirty little secrets (not that any will be shared here). 

Some people know me as Trouble Brew, and others as Weild.  However, there is only one person in this world who can call me wife.  I am writing this for and to him, because he's just that special to me.  For those of you who may be more familiar with my other blog, The27Unique, don't worry, I am still going to publish to it as well.  I just needed to do this for Drew, though I do not plan to post to it every day.  This is just my way of letting him know in little notes and thoughts and so forth that I love him.

Join me, or don't.  I don't really care.  So here's to picnics in the rain, the only form of dancing we've ever truly shared.